abc

Wasn't Kewell on a 4 year contract?

Leo you've hit the nail on it's head, wrt the point about adapting. He hasn't smartened up at all; still always needing the perfect moment take a shot or even lay a pass off. Even on Saturday he was still caught in the box needing time to make a bit of space for himself. To me, from that point I'd lost all faith. Not saying that he won't come good, but it's very unlikely. Give him time and space, and he can be some player. Unfortunately, those are two things which he will not get playing up front in the English game.

Lampard will adjust his game slightly, maybe play a little deeper and limit his forward running I would guess. From what I've seen, he likes to be in the thick of things and at times from deeper positions anyway. Ballack is great as the floating midfielder. As for Essien, well, I'd shoot him anyway.

Why won't it work? Makalele will hold the midfield together, with Ballack and Lampard sharing duties as the 'second' central midfielder. Going on what I've seen of him, I think Ballack will fit right into the English game.

Love the way he still drew players towards him in (late) extra time even though it was so bloody obvious he couldn't play anymore... I fess up to saying "what a c*nt" when I read that he'd changed his mind again and decided to stay during last summer's debacle. I remember thinking it would have been pretty weird to take to him again. But watching him play at full pelt again only warms you to him. He has matured into a great captain this season. Legend!

Excellent read. Exactly what I feel about Owen.

It's true that the passing hasn't been as amazing as it was last season. But I tell you what though, watch the Man Utd away match and you'll see that his reading of the game defensively has improved tremendously. I suspect it's a case where he's been concentrating so much on that aspect of his game that he's overcompensated, so to speak. Next season I think we'll see him mature into the world class all-round midfielder he is destined to become.

Unless the rules changed (which they did, sorta), the champions and the top two teams will go straight into the group stages. That's what happened in 2001, IIRC. Looked it up last year when we were all wondering if we'd be in the competition.

Paul, been a fan of your articles and views for a long time now. Keep them coming! (do I get your new book for free now I've said that?)

abc, Lee?

Bought over by Benq not too long ago...

Exactly. Everyone signs duds. If a manager delivers the top trophies, his bad signings can be excused. If he doesn't, then people will question why, and invariably it will be pointed out that certain signings could have worked out better.

The biggest risk when you try to catch it is that you'll drop it. The biggest risk when you try to punch it is that you'll mistime it. Live by the sword, die by the sword I guess?

What's wrong with saying that Reina didn't look like he was better than Dudek at the time? He really didn't. The blunder at Brum was the same kind of mistake we'd castigated Dudek for, and he wasn't doing anything outstanding like plucking crosses from 15 feet in the air. We saw his worth only later on when we played with more confidence, with the defence playing a higher line and of course, when everyone got used to his game. But at that point in time based on performances, he was nothing special. If someone said that now though, you'd tell them to [insert expletive]...

He did it for us down here in Australia...

andy gray?

Scenario: You've just beaten your man on the edge of the box. He takes a tug at your shirt. Which doesn't unbalance you, but slows you down by maybe half a second. His teammate comes across and barely nicks the ball off you to clear the danger. You moan at the ref, because you know if you hadn't had your shirt tugged, you would have got a toe to the ball (against covering defender) and would have been clean through to take a shot. Analysis: Firstly, a foul is a foul. The ref should have spotted the shirt tug. If the defender had let you go, you would have probably slotted it home, or maybe won a penalty because you might have drawn a bad challenge from the covering defender. Action: Do you let it happen again and again, causing your team to lose points because you're against "going down easily", even though the opposition is clearly using foul play (which the ref clearly isn't spotting) to stop you? Or do you go down after getting your shirt tugged because by doing so the ref will pull up for a foul (which he should anyway but doesn't because you stay on your feet) and award you a peno?

I remember noticing he clipped his own ankle with the other foot in that play. As for the second one, it's one of those where if you didn't fall, you'd never get a foul called. The player stuck his leg out to block his path. But unfortunately you never get those given, cause they look so soft.

Chelsea 2nd half away was a clinical performance from them. However, as with the match at Anfield, we were the better team for 30 mins until we fecked up defensively. After going a goal up, they were comfortable. Arsenal away is about as tough a match we've played all season. Still we held on until Stevie's howler. Incidentally the Mancs were sh*te against us all three matches this season. A win, a draw and a loss is indicative of the gap between both teams. We may yet finish second, depending on the Spurs match. Win that, and we won't catch them. Providing of course, we win today.

He's dropped a couple of clangers already. Seem to remember away at Brum for their 2nd, and Bolton away. I think he's proved he has the mental strength that you've mentioned. Also, the catching thing, fookin get over it. As long as the ball is cleared, it's good enough. There is more risk catching the ball in mid air amongst a crowd of players, falling down awkwardly and then dropping it for a striker to tap the ball in.

Hmmm....once they scored at the Bridge, we were outclassed. At Anfield though, if Traore didn't decide to have the howler he did, it could have been a different result. But say we drew at Anfield. That would be a 3 point difference reduced. Let's maybe zero it down to other matches over the season where we should have finished teams off or held on to draw, but failed to do so for various reasons. Say we beat Boro away on the first day, Charlton and Birmingham at Anfield (6 points difference) and then drew Man Utd and Arsenal away (2 points). We would be 11 points closer to Chelsea had all the above happened. As for the matches I picked out, the little tiniest changes in decisions or rub of the green which went against us made such a huge difference in the end, when the effects are accumulated. It's just disappointing that the short blip last month has slightly taken the gloss off an otherwise excellent season. Look through the fixture list and there haven't been too many poor performances by the team. Matches in which we've dropped points, many of them we have played well enough to win. I think we've made great strides this season...

Figo is class and has never relied on outright pace. His game is about quick feet, deceptive turns and shimmies, world class delivery with both feet and intelligent movement. And a knack for scoring important goals. You don't lose those attributes drastically just because you've hit 30.

Ronaldo is so fat and thus has lost alot of speed, but when on the ball he still can beat 90% of defenders with his pace and power. Cisse is so athletic and can probably run faster than Ronaldo over any distance, but when on the ball he still struggles to beat 90% of defenders with pace or power. That and of course, the small little factor that Ronaldo is still one of the worlds best goalscorers.

Momo's close control, especially his first touch at times is excellent. Me and my mate noticed it when he was in a tight spot a few times last weekend. It's just his release of the ball which isn't quite as good as it should be.

I think we've done great. But should probably have about 6 points more than we do, taking into account some matches which we've dominated but fail to score enough goals to win, Charlton and Birmingham come to mind. Anyway, there was a point where people were comparing (and still are?) our results to that of last season. I've always maintained that it is NOT a credible indication of our progress, because last season was a freak one. We had the distraction of Europe and injuries; it meant we were going to be inconsistent.